


The Huntress

by xBlackxRosexRebellionx



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:01:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22292995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xBlackxRosexRebellionx/pseuds/xBlackxRosexRebellionx
Summary: Bobby Singer's only child is determined to become a hunter, despite her father's adamant protests. Just two weeks after graduating from college, Shae goes out on a hunt alone. So, when Dean, Sam, and John Winchester and Shae's best friend, Raven, finally manage to locate her, they drag her back home. Bobby can't stand the thought of losing her and he becomes furious when he discovers that she broke the one Cardinal Rule that he's laid down for her: no hunting. But how can he remedy the situation? John thinks he has just the solution: Shae could shadow a more experienced hunter and learn the ropes, that way she will be better equipped to handle life as a hunter when she sets off on her own. The plan sounded brilliant at first. All they had to do was find an older, more experienced hunter to pair Shae with. But John starts to realize just how foolish the plan was when Bobby informs John that, since John thinks the plan is so great, he can take Shae along with him.Shae thinks the plan is foolproof. She'll get to follow the infamous John Winchester and tag along on all of his hunts. She'll get to learn from the most experienced hunter in the business. And she just might get to seduce the very man she's always craved.
Relationships: John Winchester/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 5





	The Huntress

**_The Huntress_ **

****

_You call to me, and I fall at your feet  
How could anyone ask for more?_

_(How could anyone ask for more?)  
And our time apart, like knives in my heart  
How could anyone ask for more?_

_(How could anyone ask for more?)_

_But if there's a pill to help me forget,  
God knows I haven't found it yet  
But I'm dying to_

_God I'm trying to_

_'Cause trying not to love you only goes so far  
Trying not to need you is tearing me apart  
Can't see the silver lining from down here on the floor  
And I just keep on trying, but I don't know what for  
'Cause trying not to love you  
Only makes me love you more  
Only makes me love you more_

_And this kind of pain only time takes away  
That's why it's harder to let you go_

_(That’s why it’s harder to let you go)  
And nothing I can do without thinking of you  
That's why it's harder to let you go_

_(That’s why it’s harder to let you go)_

_  
But if there's a pill to help me forget,  
God knows I haven't found it yet  
But I'm dying to_

_God I'm trying to_

_‘Cause trying not to love you only goes so far  
Trying not to need you is tearing me apart  
Can't see the silver lining from down here on the floor  
And I just keep on trying, but I don't know what for  
'Cause trying not to love you  
Only makes me love you more_

_So I sit here divided, just talking to myself  
Was it something that I did?  
Was there somebody else?  
When a voice from behind me that was fighting back tears  
Sat right down beside me, whispered right in my ear  
Said I’ve been dying to tell you_

_That trying not to love you only went so far  
And trying not to need you was tearing me apart  
Now I see the silver lining of what we're fighting for  
And if we just keep on trying, we could be much more  
'Cause trying not to love you_

_Oh, yeah, trying not to love you_  
Only makes me love you more  
Only makes me love you more

**Chapter 1: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest**

Raven Mathers was wiping down the bar there at the bar she owned, The Raven’s Nest, when she heard the door open.

“We’re closed!” she called, her green eyes fixed on the stubborn stain that refused to come out of the mahogany wood.

“Hey, Rave,” she heard Ash pipe up from behind her as he came carrying a crate full of bottles, “This is the last of it.”

“All right,” she said, “I’ll have to order more. Just go ahead and stock what’s there.”

She heard heavy footsteps approaching the bar and sighed, “I said we’re closed.”

“Even for us?” she heard a familiar voice inquire, prompting her to glance up.

She found Dean and Sam Winchester standing in front of her and a smile curled at her lips.

“That depends,” she teased.

“On what?” Dean asked.

“You paying?” she questioned.

He gave her an incredulous look, his brows hiking up his forehead as he told her, “Now that’s harsh.”

But he reached into his back pocket for his wallet, pulling out a 20-dollar bill and holding it up between two fingers, making sure she could see his middle finger quite clearly even as he flashed her that cocky, crooked little smirk.

She just smiled, shaking her head and giving a downward wave of her hand as she said, “Put it away. You know your money’s no good here.”

Dean’s smirk stretched even wider and he stated, “That’s more like it.”

He folded his large frame onto one of the bar stools and Sam did the same.

“So,” Raven inquired, “What brings you two here?”

“Shae Singer,” Dean sighed as Raven went to go fetch a bottle of Jack Daniels, two shot glasses, and a couple bottles of Corona.

“What about Shae?” Raven asked.

“Well…” Sam started, “We got word that Shae went hunting…”

Raven’s brows hiked up her forehead and she jerked her head back slightly at that revelation. If Bobby Singer found out that his only child had gone hunting, he’d fucking murder someone… or something.

“She went _hunting?!”_ Raven practically screeched.

Dean grimaced.

“That’s not even the worst part…” Dean grumbled.

“What do you mean ‘that’s not even the worst part’?” Raven demanded, “What the fuck’s going on here?”

“Let me clarify that,” Sam explained, “We got word that Shae went hunting… _alone…”_

“Oh my God…” Raven mumbled, her brain racing a million miles a minute as she tried to process the information.

Bobby Singer’s only child, his baby girl, had gone off hunting _alone?_ Yeah. Someone was going to die.

“Listen,” Sam started, “We didn’t think she’d do it –,”

“What do you mean ‘You didn’t think she’d do it’? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Raven inquired.

“I mean, she called us to tell us that she’d found a hunt. She wanted to know if we wanted in. Dean told her no. We didn’t honestly think that she’d go out and hunt it herself!” Sam told her, his voice rising with his alarm.

“Yeah, well, you obviously don’t know Shae as well as you thought you did then,” Raven grumbled, throwing the towel she’d been using down on the bar and storming off to the back of the bar to grab her black leather jacket, her Jack Skellington messenger bag, and her keys.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Ash cried, coming out of the supply room to see her in a hurry, “What’s going on?”

He followed her as she headed back to the main part of the bar.

“These two _idiots_ let Shae Singer go hunting _alone,”_ Raven informed him, “That’s what happened.”

“Fuck, man,” Ash said, “So… I guess I’m gonna have to get a suit, right?”

“A suit for what?” Dean asked, his brows furrowing.

“For your funeral, man,” Ash clarified.

Raven actually cracked a smile at that, watching as the oldest Winchester brother started squirming in his seat.

“Shut up,” Dean fired back, “Bobby wouldn’t kill me. He loves me.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that,” Ash retorted, “All bets are off when he finds out you let his little girl go hunting on her own.”

“She’s not a little girl,” Dean protested, “She’s 23 fucking years old.”

“I don’t think that really matters, Dean,” Ash pointed out, “She’s still his daughter, not to mention she’s his only kid and the spitting image of Karen.”

“Oh, shut up!” Dean snapped.

“Both of you shut up!” Raven chided, “We’ve gotta figure out where the hell she’s at and what, exactly, she was hunting.”

“Well,” Sam piped up, “I might be able to help with part of that.”

“Care to elaborate?” Ash prompted.

“She said she was hunting a wendigo,” Sam stated, pulling out his phone and reading through the text messages Shae had sent him a few days ago, “She said it was starting to make its way into one of the little towns out in the mountains, looking for food. And if it was brave enough to venture into town searching for food, it was a real threat to the locals.”

“Well, she’d be right,” Ash agreed.

“Fucking Christ…” Raven sighed.

“Annnnd, here we go…” Dean mumbled under his breath.

“You let her go hunt a fucking _wendigo_ on her own?!” Raven demanded.

Dean shrunk away from her slightly. He could’ve sworn that he’d seen flames dancing in her eyes there for a second.

“Jesus _Christ,_ Dean!” Raven shouted, “Do you have no fucking brain cells left at all?!”

“What?” Dean questioned, “How is this my fault?”

“Because I’m assuming Sam wasn’t one the that was dumb enough to tell her no!” Raven fired back.

“No,” Sam chimed in, “I was in the middle of talking to her when Dean took the phone from me and told her that we weren’t going to help her.”

“Well, jeez, Sam, thanks,” Dean practically growled at his younger brother, “Just throw me under the bus.”

Raven narrowed her green eyes at Dean, leaning over the bar until their noses were nearly touching.

“If so much as _one_ hair on that girl’s head was harmed, I’m going to personally take it out of your ass,” she seethed, her pale eyes flashing with anger.

“Yeah, if Bobby doesn’t beat you to it,” Ash commented.

“Not helping, Ash,” Dean snapped before he grew serious, cradling his head in his hands and mumbling, “I mean, come on, guys. I never really thought she’d go out there on her own. I figured she’d drop it when I told her that Sammy and I weren’t gonna help her. I told her Bobby would _kill_ us if we took her out hunting. I mean, you know how he is.”

“Yeah, he’s still probably gonna kill you,” Ash chimed in from where he was placing the last bottle on the shelf.

“You think?” Dean asked sarcastically.

“Shut up,” Raven told him, reaching up to run her fingers through her long, black hair, “Just… Shut up. You’ve already done enough damage.”

She nibbled at her bottom lip as she tried to think.

“How many days has she been gone?” Raven questioned.

“This makes five,” Sam answered.

“Fuck!” she cursed, slamming her other hand down on the bar before she cradled her head in her hands.

She could feel a headache coming on already.

She massaged at her temples with the fingers of both hands, groaning, “And where did she say she was going?”

“She didn’t say,” Sam told her.

“Great,” Raven sighed, “Just fucking great.”

“Wait a minute…” Ash said, holding one finger up and hurrying over to his laptop.

He opened the laptop and fired it up, prompting Raven to ask, “What the hell are you doing?”

“I might be able to help,” Ash informed her.

“And how, exactly, is that?” she prompted, “You suddenly develop telepathy or something? You a bloodhound? Can you track her scent? ‘Cause that’d be fucking amazing right now.”

“No, no, and no,” Ash replied, pointing at her without tearing his eyes off of the screen, “But Bobby had me install a tracker in her phone before she went off to college. Unless she’s figured out it’s in there and found a way to take it out, I might be able to tell you where she’s at.”

“Oh, you’re a _lifesaver!”_ Raven cried, walking over to throw her arms around him in an awkward hug around his neck as he stared at the screen and typed frantically.

“All five flavors, baby,” Ash joked, pressing one last button and announcing, _“Bingo!”_

“Oh!” Raven said, leaning in to kiss his cheek, “I love you!”

“I’m gonna remember you said that,” Ash told her.

“You’re the best!” she shouted as she grabbed her things and headed for the door.

“Now that would make a _really_ good ring tone…” Ash mumbled, more to himself than anyone else.

“Send that location to my phone!” Raven hollered as she headed out the door.

She pulled the door closed behind her and headed over to her trusty 1967 Ford Fastback, sliding behind the wheel and pulling up the app on her phone before she backed out of the lot and pulled onto the road.

“You, uh… You guys gonna follow her?” Ash asked the Winchester brothers.

Dean heaved a sigh but pushed himself from his stool and Sam followed suit, heading for the door.

Raven drove through the night, stopping only when her bladder was screaming or the gas tank was empty. She had no idea where the hell Shae was going. She was apparently heading back to South Dakota, but where she’d been in the first place was still a mystery. She’d been coming from somewhere up north and further west. She just hoped to God that Shae was all right or there would be hell to pay.

Shae Singer was Bobby and Karen Singer’s only child, and, while she was one year younger than Raven – and three years younger than Dean – she had grown up around Raven and the Winchester boys. It only made sense, considering how much research Bobby had done for Raven and the Winchesters over the years. And Shae was a big part of that. She had helped various hunters over the years, had spent _countless_ hours scouring through her father’s old books, to ensure that the hunters had the proper information they needed for their hunt. Research was one thing. But hunting was something that Bobby had never wanted Shae to get into, not after he’d lost Karen. He couldn’t stand the thought of losing anyone else, especially his “little princess”. And it had been Karen’s dying wish to make sure that Shae got an education after she finished high school. She’d made Bobby promise her that he would send their daughter to college as she’d lay dying in his arms.

So, naturally, that’s what Bobby had done. He’d packed her things up after she’d finished high school and moved her onto campus there at Jericho University, where she’d studied psychology and zoology, which her father had thought was quite an interesting combination. Though, had he only known that her ulterior motives for choosing those topics was to obtain more information that would eventually prepare her for hunting, he probably would’ve dragged her ass back home and locked her in the panic room in his basement.

But here she was, just two weeks after she’d graduated from JU with her Bachelor’s degree – and with a 3.75 GPA to boot – having completed her first hunt, and a solo one at that! Raven just hoped that the wendigo she’d been hunting was in a lot worse shape than Shae was. The girl was a walking encyclopedia of knowledge when it came to supernatural lore. But there was only so much that that intel could do for her, especially when considering the fact that the girl had never been on a hunt before and had _no_ idea what to expect when actually encountering a creature in person.

Raven grit her teeth, pressing her foot more firmly against the gas pedal, and it suddenly dawned on her where Shae was going. She was probably heading to her boyfriend’s house. Shae had been more secretive about her current boyfriend than she had about her previous two. In fact, Raven was the only person that even knew this guy existed, much less that Shae was dating him. And Shae had been with the guy for six months, which didn’t exactly help to ease Raven’s nerves at the moment either. Hell, she didn’t even remember the guy’s name!

But nothing could have prepared her for what she discovered when she pulled up in front of the small house at the end of the gravel drive.

There was a small fire burning in the front yard, not large enough to do any real damage but still big enough to cause concern. She watched as Shae stormed out of the house, her arms loaded down. She saw the blonde pitch items into the fire – clothes, pictures still in their frames, bed sheets. Hell, she even chucked a diamond engagement ring into the fire!

Raven took a moment to assess the situation, her pale green eyes locked on her childhood friend. On a scale from one to ten on the Singer Temper Scale, Shae was at about a twenty. Raven didn’t think she’d ever seen the girl so mad. Her whole body was shaking, and tears were streaming down her face as she marched back into the house to grab more items for her little bonfire.

It was then that she noticed him, Shae’s apparent very-soon-to-be ex fiancé – when the hell had they gotten engaged anyway? He walked outside, dressed only in a pair of blue jeans that hung low on his hips, his shaggy, brown hair a mess and a goatee framing his mouth and chin. He was probably 6’0” even, maybe 6’1”. He was tall and lean, long in the legs. He had tribal tattoos lacing down either arm and his back was a canvas, decorated with skulls and roses in a black and white portrait style. And, for the life of her, as Raven watched him walk over to the fire, she couldn’t remember what his name was.

He stooped down next to the fire, gazing into the flames and apparently trying to decide what was worth trying to salvage and whether or not it was worth risking the burns he might obtain to try to save it.

But Shae was back outside at that point, shouting, “So help me, Raze, if you pull that shit out of the fire, I’ll throw _your_ sorry ass in there next!”

“Baby, come on –,” he tried to reason with her, pushing himself up onto his feet and starting over towards her.

“No!” Shae screamed, shaking her head hard, “Don’t you _dare_ call me ‘baby’! I’m not your ‘baby’ anymore! You don’t deserve it, you stupid son of a bitch!”

“Shae –,” he started again, trying to reach out towards her, but Shae’s whole face contorted in rage and that was when Raven noticed the angry, red scratch marks that stretched down the side of her face.

“Shit!” Raven cursed, throwing the door open and climbing out of the car.

“How the fuck could you?!” Shae hollered, “What? Was I not pretty enough? Was I not smart enough? What was it?”

As Raven rounded the front of the car, she noticed the crumpled form of a sobbing young woman cradling a bloody nose, her red hair all rumpled and ratted like she’d been pulled out of the house by the long, red strands.

“Well, shit…” Raven sighed.

This had just gotten a _lot_ more complicated.

Raven started over towards the arguing couple as she saw the man reach for her friend again, but Shae shoved him backwards hard enough to knock him on his ass.

“Don’t you _dare_ fucking touch me!” Shae accused, “Not after you had your hands all over _her_ and your dick inside of _her!_ I hope she was fucking worth it, you piece of shit, because you’ll _never_ see me again!”

“Now, baby –,” he tried to say, pushing himself back up onto his feet but holding both of his hands out in front of him as he slowly tried to approach her once more.

Wow. He really _was_ a stupid son of a bitch.

“God, it’s bad enough you fucking cheated on me!” Shae spat at him before pointing over to the crumpled mess of a girl that was currently trying to push herself up onto her hands and knees, “But with _her?!”_

Raven took the time to really look at the girl then and discovered that she looked vaguely familiar. After a moment, it finally clicked. She was in half of the pictures that had been taken at Shae’s graduation. She must’ve been one of her close friends – or _used_ to be one of her close friends at least – from college.

Shae marched over to the girl and placed her foot on the girl’s back, shoving her back onto the ground as she leaned down to snarl into the girl’s ear, “I don’t believe I told you that you could get up yet, did I? I’m not finished with you yet, sweetheart.”

Raze made his way over to wrap one hand around Shae’s wrist as he tried to tug her away from the injured girl, and that was when Raven chose to intervene, stepping forward and announcing her presence to the couple as she shoved Shae’s ex backwards, catching him off guard and sending him stumbling back a few steps.

“You bitch!” he spat, starting towards her, but Shae got to him first, clocking him with a good right hook that sent him sprawling in the dirt, one hand pressed to his sore – and quite possibly dislocated – jaw.

Shae pressed one hand to her shoulder, rolling it once before she curled and uncurled her now-bloody knuckles.

“You all right?” Raven asked her.

“I feel much better after that,” Shae stated in a matter-of-fact tone, “But I’d still like to fucking kill him.”

“Well, I’m afraid I can’t let you do that, honey,” Raven informed her.

“Why not?” Shae inquired, “I’d make sure they never found the body.”

“Oh, I’m sure you would,” Raven assured her, “But then we’d have the cops on our asses, and I can’t have you getting tried for murder. It’s bad enough you’ll probably have assault and arson charges after today.”

Shae gave a very unladylike scoff as Raven pulled her into her arms and gave her a tight squeeze.

“What happened, honey?” Raven murmured into her hair.

“Well, I finished my first hunt and, as you can see, I was successful. So, I came back here, intending to celebrate with this asshole, and I found him in bed with _that_ little whore.”

“Shae, come on,” her ex tried one last time, choosing to keep his distance this time.

“I don’t _ever_ want to see you again, you two-timing, whore-fucking, good-for-nothing, slimy son of a bitch! You propose to me and then, two weeks later, I catch you fucking _cheating_ on me?! And with _that_ bitch?!” Shae practically shrieked, her voice rising with her anger and her body starting to shake once more.

“Get back in the house,” Raven instructed him, pointing towards said house.

“This doesn’t concern you –,” he started to tell her before Raven narrowed her pale green eyes at him and snapped, “Get back in the _fucking_ house! And take that fucking bitch with you!”

She gestured with one hand to the sobbing mess of a girl that was laying on the front lawn and Raze started over towards her, reaching down to help her up and try to steady her on her feet just as Raven heard a familiar rumble start up the drive.

“Thank fuck,” Raven sighed.

“Who’s that?” Shae asked, craning her neck to try to locate the source of the sound.

“The cavalry,” Raven answered as the Impala pulled up beside her Fastback and, not two seconds after the engine died, both doors swung open as the Winchester boys slid out of the car.

“What the _hell_ happened here?” Dean questioned as he and Sam came over to stand beside Raven and Shae.

“This crazy bitch happened,” Raze accused, jabbing a thumb in Shae’s direction as he hauled his whore for the door.

Both of the boys’ eyebrows hiked up their foreheads and they turned their attention to Shae then, taking in the current state of the blonde bombshell.

“Call John,” Raven instructed.

Sam’s brows furrowed at that and he inquired, “Shouldn’t we call Bobby?”

Raven cocked one brow at him, asking, “You wanna be the one to break it to him that his baby girl went on her first hunt alone, came home slightly damaged, found her soon-to-be ex fiancé – the one he didn’t even _know_ about – cheating on her, and will probably be charged with arson for setting his shit on fire and assault for beating the shit out of his whore?”

Sam shook his head hard while Dean just stood there stunned, his green eyes wide and his brows nearly touching his hairline.

“I didn’t think so,” Raven said, “Now call John. And tell him to have some bail money ready.”

John Winchester had no idea what he was getting into when he got the call.

He answered on the third ring, hearing his eldest son’s voice call through the other side of the phone, “Dad?”

“Hey, Dean,” he replied, “Whaddya need?”

“It’s Shae,” Dean told him.

John’s stomach fucking dropped, his heart rising into his throat, and he started across the hotel room to grab his leather jacket from the back of the chair, swiping his keys off of the small table in the corner.

“What happened?” he demanded, already making his way through the door and pulling it closed behind him.

“Some shit’s going down, and we need your help –,” Dean started to explain before John cut him off, asking, “Is she hurt?”

“She’s a little worse for wear, but that’s not why I’m calling,” Dean elaborated, “We’re gonna need some bail money.”

 _“Bail_ money?” John inquired, “What the _hell_ did she do?”

“Well… You’ll see when you get here,” Dean told him.

“Where is ‘here’?” John questioned.

“Just outside of Sioux Falls,” Dean answered, “I’ll send you the coordinates.”

John peeled out of the parking lot, sending gravel flying in his haste as he pulled out onto the road.

When John arrived at the location his son had given him the coordinates for, John found pure chaos. Shae was screaming at a guy that was currently half naked and cradling his nose as blood flowed through his fingers. Both of his sons were doing their damnedest to restrain the raging blonde as she struggled against their grip. Raven was using a bucket of water to try to douse out the fire that was burning there in the front yard, but it was growing at an alarming rate, the flames licking high. There was a mess of a girl leaning heavily against the front door of the small house, looking like she’d just gone ten rounds with Tyson himself. And the things that Bobby’s daughter was screaming at who he quickly came to realize must have been her boyfriend at one time – and fairly recently at that – would’ve made even her old man blush.

“What the hell is going on here?” John demanded, making his way over to the little firecracker that was trying desperately to get free so she could get at Mr. Pretty Boy.

“Don’t ask,” Dean said as John moved to step in front of his good friend’s daughter.

God, she was the spitting image of her mother. All blonde curls and big green eyes, full lips and curves that could give a man whiplash.

He cupped her chin in his face and she grew still for a moment but never tore her narrowed, viridescent eyes from Mr. Pretty Boy as John examined the angry, red scratch marks that tore across her right cheek.

“He do this to you?” John asked, his blood practically boiling in his veins at the very idea of some man putting his hands on her.

“No,” she answered, struggling once more in Dean and Sam’s arms.

“Then who did?” he inquired.

“A wendigo,” she replied before growling, _“Sam…”_

“I’m sorry,” John said, his dark brows furrowing, “I thought I just heard you say ‘a wendigo’. That can’t be right. Because, if I remember right, Bobby made it _very_ clear that he didn’t want you hunting.”

“You heard right,” she told him, “Now let me go. I’m gonna fucking kill him.”

“Oh, I don’t think so, honey,” John informed her, “In fact, I’d say you’re already in a hell of a lot more trouble than you bargained for. From the looks of it, you’re possibly facing arson charges and two accounts of assault. And that’s not including the ass chewing your daddy’s gonna give you that will leave your ears ringing for the next three years. He might even break that streak he had going and beat your ass for the first time.”

She cocked one blonde brow at that, clearly trying to work out whether or not she believed him, and John shook his head at her.

“Now, I was told to bring ‘bail money’ with me. But I don’t think it’s my place to bail your ass out of jail if that’s where you wind up tonight,” he stated, “No. I think that’s up to your daddy to decide.”

Her eyes widened slightly at that, and he could see that she was finally starting to realize just how much trouble she might be in.

“Are you really gonna give me that whole ‘actions have consequences’ speech right now?” she asked, “Because it’s bullshit. What about him? What’s his consequence for proposing to me, only to be caught cheating two weeks later, buried balls deep in who _used_ to be my best friend from college, when I came back from my first hunt?”

John’s dark brows nearly reached his hairline at that and he turned his hazel eyes to the man in question then.

“You did that?” John asked.

The man was silent but directed his eyes to the ground, and that was enough of an answer for John.

“Wow…” John sighed, “Then I guess that explains his bloody nose and the sorry state of the other girl.”

While he didn’t exactly agree with her actions, he could see Shae’s point in wanting revenge. And he could _certainly_ see why she’d be angry.

But there was another question to address at the moment.

“Wait a minute… Did you say he _proposed_ to you?” John inquired with narrowed eyes.

“The engagement ring’s in the fire,” Raven announced as she poured another bucket onto the fire in an attempt to put it out before she finally gave up, tossed the bucket onto the ground, and threw her hands up into the air, “Along with a bunch of his other shit.”

“Did your daddy know about this?” John questioned, his hazel eyes locked on Bobby Singer’s daughter.

“Not exactly,” Shae replied.

“What, exactly, does ‘not exactly’ mean?” John pressed.

“No,” she finally mumbled, “He doesn’t know.”

“Did you know about this?” John asked, directing his gaze at Raven then.

“No,” Raven told him, “I knew they were dating, but I didn’t know that they were engaged.”

“Well,” John said, “It looks like you’ve got a _lot_ of explaining to do, young lady. And you can start on the way to your daddy’s house, ‘cause that’s where I’m taking you.”

Shae narrowed her eyes as she glared up at the infamous John Winchester. He gave a jerk of his head and both of his sons released her, nearly sending her toppling over at the sudden lack of stability. But, just as she was preparing to take advantage of her newfound freedom and lay into her sorry excuse of an ex-boyfriend, John wrapped one large hand around her upper arm, dragging her for his truck.

“You wait ‘til the sheriff finds out about this!” she heard Raze holler after her, prompting her to whirl around, trying to yank herself out of John’s grasp as she struggled to get at the slimy son of a bitch one last time.

“Shae…” John warned, his tone low and authoritative.

If she could just get one more lick in, she’d make that bastard wish he’d never even met that fucking traitorous little bitch.

“If either of you tell _anyone_ about this, I’ll make _damn_ sure they never find your either of your bodies!” she threatened as John tightened his hold on her with one hand and brought the other one up to grab her opposite arm to hold her back.

She watched as Raze paled visibly, and his little whore’s eyes grew wide, making Shae’s lips curl up into sly grin.

“He’s not worth it, honey,” John told her, “Just get in the truck.”

But Shae wanted to get the last word in, stealing one last peek over her shoulder as she was led towards John’s GMC.

“Oh,” she added, a smirk curling at her lips, “And my dad’s in good with the sheriff. He’s helped her on a few cases. So good luck to you on that.”

With that, she jerked her arm out of John’s grasp and stalked over to his truck, pulling the passenger side door open and climbing in. She slammed the door behind her, crossing her arms over her chest and waiting for the lecture she knew was coming. For a second, as John approached the truck, she could’ve sworn that she’d seen his lips twitch, almost as if he was holding back a smile. But she’d probably imagined it and, before she knew it, he was folding his large, lean frame behind the wheel and firing up his beast of a truck.

“What the _hell_ were you thinking?” he asked her, his voice like steel.

It sent a shudder rippling down her spine, but not from fear. While she knew that John Winchester was a force to be reckoned with and probably the best hunter her father had ever encountered, she’d also been jonesing for Papa Winchester since she was 16. And seeing his hazel eyes narrowed in anger, watching his features harden and his muscles tense, it made her insides flutter.

“Oh, and how would you react to finding Mary in bed with another man?” she spat, inwardly cringing as soon as the words were out.

Shit. She should’ve known better than to throw her in his face, but her mouth was running quicker than her brain today.

“That’s different,” John told her, shaking his head as he gazed into the rearview mirror and started backing out of the long, twisting, gravel drive.

“Oh? How’s that?” she questioned.

“Because Mary and I were married, for one thing,” John pointed out, “We were together for years. And, for another, I wasn’t ashamed to be in a relationship with her.”

Shae jerked her head back at that, scoffing, “I wasn’t ashamed of him.”

“Then why didn’t you ever tell the boys about him?” John pressed, “I could understand you not telling Dean because he’d want to call in favors and have a background check run on him. But Sam? It surprises me that you never told Sam about him.”

“Because I was waiting to see if it would get serious between me and that douche canoe before I told anyone about him,” she said, putting it quite simply.

“Well I’d say it got pretty serious if you two got engaged, now didn’t it?” John prompted.

“Not so much,” she reminded him, “If you hadn’t noticed, I caught him balls deep inside of who _used_ to be my best friend in college just _two_ weeks after he proposed to me.”

“And your daddy?” he continued on as if she hadn’t spoken, “Why didn’t you ever tell him?”

“Because _no one_ is ever good enough to date his ‘little princess’,” she retorted, “The last two weren’t, so why would this one be?”

“Yeah, well he doesn’t really seem like a real winner, now does he, honey?” John questioned.

“And where, exactly, do you get off lecturing me on who I do and don’t date?” she countered, “Or who I do and don’t tell about my love life? What business is it of yours? Hmm?”

She saw his beard shift just slightly and knew that he was clenching his jaw, prompting a smirk to curl at her lips. She had him there.

“You’re not my ‘daddy’, as far as I’m aware,” she informed him, eluding to the fact that he kept referencing her dad and what he would think of this whole mess during their whole conversation, “And I’ve _never_ heard you lecturing _your_ boys on their love life.”

“Yeah, well, that’s because Dean never keeps a girl around longer than one night, so I never have to deal with any of them –,” he started to say.

“Yeah, that’s _real_ classy,” she mumbled, her lips curling up into a sneer at just the thought.

“And Sam has always had good taste in girls,” John finished, “He’s a good judge of character. He gets that from his mother.”

“He probably does,” she agreed.

“Well you sure as shit didn’t get it from yours,” he countered.

“Oh, _fuck_ you, John!” she spat, “Like you have any room to fucking talk.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” John demanded.

“It means I’m not fucking blind, John!” she cried, “For fuck’s sake! You really think I’ve failed to notice the string of women you’ve had over the years between cases? Because I haven’t! I bet you never called any of them or saw them again after the deed was done, now did you?”

“I loved my wife!” John shouted back, finally losing his cool, “You wouldn’t understand.”

“You’re right,” she said, “I don’t. Mary is _dead,_ John –,”

“You think I don’t know that?!” he hollered.

“But _you_ are not,” she continued on, ignoring his little outburst, “You think she would’ve wanted this for you? For you to just go on living like some… some _shell_ of a man who’s not even capable of showing his emotions? You think she would’ve wanted to see you fucking any woman that showed even a _shred_ of interest in you?”

“You don’t know what she would’ve wanted,” he snarled, “Don’t ever pretend you do.”

“She would’ve wanted you to be _happy_ , John,” Shae insisted, knowing that she was pushing her luck.

“And what about your mother?” John fired right back, catching her off guard and making her bristle, “You think she would’ve wanted you slumming around with that dirt bag?”

Shae’s hand flew across the inside of the truck before she had a chance to think, connecting with the side of John’s face and shocking them both. Her eyes widened the second she realized what she’d done, and her jaw fell open, a gasp escaping her. Guilt hit her like an avalanche as he slammed on the breaks, right there in the middle of the road, and rounded on her, fixing those whiskey colored eyes on her.

“You’re wrong,” she ground out of tightly clenched teeth as she felt the impending tears burn the back of her eyes.

“Oh?” he asked, “I’m wrong? How’s that? You honestly think Karen would’ve liked to see you sleeping around with _that_ guy while you were at college? She made your dad promise her that you would go to college. She wanted a better life for you, Shae. She wanted you to get an education so that you could move away from Sioux Falls and get the hell out of this life.”

“I never slept with him!” she screamed, finally losing her grip on her sanity.

“Well, let me tell you, sweetheart,” he challenged, “The sex must’ve been _really_ fucking good if you agreed to marry him.”

“I never fucked him!” she insisted, feeling the tears finally start to run like twin rivers down her cheeks, “I never fucked anybody!”

John jerked his head back, staring at her for a moment before he asked, “Wait… Come again?”

“I never fucked anybody,” she elaborated, “So you’re wrong. I’m not some two-bit whore, John. Maybe that’s why he went out and found her. I don’t know...”

He just stared at her for a moment while he processed that information.

“So, you’ve _never…?”_ he started to ask before trailing off.

“No,” she answered, “You’ve met my dad. He’s like the fucking Sherlock Holmes of the hunting world. You really think I would’ve been able to sleep with a hunter without him catching wind of it? Why do you think I never dated hunters, John? God, half of the hunters I know keep in contact with my dad! And those other two guys I dated were fucking _boring,_ at least until I met Raze. Raze was different. He was… _exciting._ He rode a Harley and he had tattoos and he drove a 1967 El Camino. He was into street racing and car shows and drive-in movies and heated make-out sessions. I couldn’t _believe_ that he’d ever be interested in some boring girl like me…”

“You’re not boring, Shae,” John sighed, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose before bringing his hand to his jaw and working it back and forth a couple times, “And you sure as hell don’t hit like a girl.”

Shae actually laughed at that, shaking her head as she informed him, “You can thank my dad for that.”

John turned sideways in his seat to address her, insisting, “You’re not boring. And don’t you ever let anyone tell you any different. I don’t know any other girl that can throw a right hook like that. I don’t know any other girl that has pinpoint accuracy with throwing knives and like ten different kinds of guns –,”

“Twelve actually,” she corrected him.

Her dad had made sure of that.

“And I don’t know any other girl that can recite a flawless exorcism in Latin… or take down a wendigo by herself,” he finished.

While she wanted to preen like a peacock at his revelations, she simply shrugged her shoulders, stating, “Yeah, well, guys don’t find that kind of stuff hot, John. They don’t want a girl that can kick their ass or change the oil in their car. They want a girl that makes them feel needed. I never understood that whole ‘damsel loving’ philosophy.”

John shook his head, chuckling, and said, “Well, I’d never call you a damsel. And I’d sure as hell never want a damsel. That’s for _damn_ sure. They’re too much damn work.”

She giggled then, shaking her head at him.

“Yeah, well, I still have one other thing working against me,” she said, picking back up with their previous conversation on why guys didn’t want her.

“And what’s that?” he asked.

“Guys don’t want a virgin, John,” she scoffed, as if it was the most obvious thing, “They want a woman that’s got experience, a woman that knows just how to please a man.”

“Oh, bullshit,” John told her, shaking his head at her, “Being a virgin isn’t some curse, Shae. It’s an honor. There aren’t many of them left out there.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” she retorted, “We’re about as elusive as a fucking unicorn. We’re a dying race. Blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada. No one wants a virgin, John.”

“There are plenty of guys out there who would love to have a virgin,” he countered.

“Maybe you’re right,” she agreed.

He gave a single, downward nod of his head and that crooked little smirk curled at his lips. The cocky son of a bitch thought he was right.

“But only so that they can claim the right of taking her virginity,” she finished.

John scoffed at that, giving a single, downward wave of his hand and turning to face the road once more.

He put the truck in drive as he informed her, “Believe whatever you want. But we were all virgins at some point, Shae. And any man that can’t accept you the way you are is a fucking idiot.”

“Yeah,” she mumbled, turning to gaze out the passenger side window, “Sure.”

But she didn’t believe him, not really. He couldn’t be serious. He _had_ to be lying, even if it was just an attempt to make her feel better about herself.

Bobby Singer was sitting at his desk in his study, three different books open as his eyes skimmed the pages in search of anything he could find on dealing with gremlins, when he heard the loud rumble of an all-too-familiar engine. He walked over to the window, peering outside to confirm that it was, in fact John Winchester’s truck, followed closely by Dean’s Impala and Raven’s Fastback.

“What in Sam Hill…?” he asked, hurrying out of the study and towards the front door.

He pulled it open just as John pulled the passenger side door of his truck open to reveal a familiar mess of blonde curls.

“Shae?” Bobby called, hurrying down the steps to pull his daughter into his arms.

But he stopped halfway there when he saw the claw marks that riddled the right side of her face.

“What in the _hell_ happened to you, princess?” he demanded, cradling her face gently in his hands as he studied the marks on her face, “What did this to you?”

“How about we go inside?” John suggested, his hazel eyes glancing around their surroundings.

“You go inside,” Bobby snapped, “I wanna know what happened to my baby girl.”

Bobby’s steel colored eyes locked on his daughter once more as she lowered her green eyes – her mother’s eyes – to the ground.

“What did you do?” he asked.

“She decided to go hunting,” Dean answered for her when she remained silent, “Alone.”

“Shut up, Dean!” Bobby and his daughter both shouted at the same time before Bobby continued on to say, “I didn’t ask you, boy. I asked my daughter.”

“All right, enough,” John Winchester said, “Let’s just head inside and we can discuss this there.”

“I don’t believe I asked for your opinion either,” Bobby spouted off, narrowing his eyes at the infamous hunter, “This is between me and my daughter.”

“Yeah, well, I was called to come help defuse the whole situation because these three couldn’t handle it themselves,” John countered, “And we still don’t even know how much trouble she’s going to be in. Now, you sure you wanna do this outside?”

“Defuse what?” Bobby questioned, his eyes roaming over the familiar faces standing on his front lawn until they locked with John’s once more, “What kind of trouble?”

“Daddy, let’s just... Let’s just go inside,” Shae mumbled, her voice low, like she already knew she was in for it and, at this rate, she probably was.

“Oh, fine!” Bobby huffed, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation before gesturing with both hands for everyone to make their way inside, “Go on!”

Once they were all inside, Bobby closed the door behind them, following the group into his study. He went to lean against his desk, his eyes roaming around the room, skipping over each of the individuals occupying the room. He watched as the younger generation squirmed under his gaze, but John kept that stoic poker face in place.

“Now,” Bobby said, “Does somebody wanna tell me what the hell is going on here?”

There was a long silence before Dean finally cracked, his resolve caving as he babbled in a rush, “I didn’t know she’d do it, all right! I thought, if I told her no, she’d just let it go. But I was wrong, and I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what, exactly?” Bobby questioned, his gray eyes locked on the eldest Winchester boy.

“Look,” Dean explained, “Shae called Sam about five days ago. She told him that she’d found a case. She said there was a wendigo that was roaming into one of the local towns, picking off people by night when the rest of the town was sleeping. She asked if we wanted to hunt it down with her. I took the phone from Sam and I told her no, that we weren’t going to help her. I told her you’d _kill_ me if I took her out hunting.”

“Well, you’d be right,” Bobby stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Sam and I didn’t think she’d actually go after we told her no. We didn’t think she’d actually try to hunt the damn thing down on her own –,” Dean tried to elaborate before Bobby cut him off.

“Shailene Summer Singer!” Bobby bellowed, pushing himself off of the desk and starting over towards his only child, “What in the _hell_ were you thinking?! You tried to hunt a goddamn _wendigo_ by _yourself?!”_

She was staring down at her shoes like they were the most fascinating thing in the room. Bobby reached out to cradle her unmarked cheek in his hand, tilting her face so that he could examine the wounds closer.

He growled when he realized that there was no mistaking them for anything else. The width between the scratches and the detail of the claw marks matched the pattern of a wendigo.

“Why I oughta throttle you…” Bobby snarled, releasing her from his grip and stalking back over to his desk as he felt his anger rising.

He gripped onto the table’s edge with both hands, fighting the urge to break something, anything, as he was forced to face the fact that his only child had disobeyed the _one_ rule he’d laid down for her when she was twelve years old.

“Daddy –,” Shae started.

“Don’t,” Bobby interrupted her, putting one hand up in a gesture for her to be silent, “Just don’t. I don’t even know what I’m gonna do with you yet. I have half a mind to lock you in the fucking panic room.”

Her eyes widened at that and she took a step back.

“Do you have _any_ idea how much danger you were in?!” Bobby demanded, his face flushing with his anger, “You were hurt, but you could’ve been _killed_ Shae!”

“But I wasn’t,” she pointed out the obvious.

“And thank _God_ for that,” Bobby sighed.

Karen would be rolling in her grave if she only knew the stunt their daughter had pulled.

“I just wanted to help!” she cried, trying to defend herself, “There were people over there getting kidnapped and even _killed!_ You always taught me to help others. It’s what mom would’ve wanted.”

“No!” Bobby roared, “This is _not_ what your mother would’ve wanted! Why do you think she wanted you to get an education? She never wanted this life for you! _I_ never wanted this life for you! Why do you think I made you promise me when you were twelve years old that you would never go hunting?”

“I _did_ what you asked me to!” Shae countered, “I went to college! And I never fit in there! I was a freak, just like I always was in school! I knew too much about mechanics. I knew too much about weapons. Newsflash, guys don’t think it’s hot when you can kick their ass. And girls don’t think it’s cool when you know more about cars than their boyfriends do. Why do you think I studied zoology? Why do you think I studied psychology? I wasn’t majoring in those subjects for shits and giggles. I was taking classes that focused on cognitive psychology and abnormal psychology and even behavioral psychology so that I could better understand how people think, how they learn, how they perceive the world around them. I took zoology classes to learn how animals think, what their behavioral patterns mean, how they perceive their environment and the elements within it. I was preparing myself to be a better hunter.”

“You’re not gonna be a hunter at all!” Bobby bellowed.

“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” Shae stated in a matter-of-fact tone, those green eyes flashing in defiance, “Because I can do it with your help, or I can do it on my own. I’m 23 years old, daddy. I’m an adult now.”

“I don’t give a shit if you’re 55!” Bobby said, “I’m still your father, and I still say no!”

“We tried telling her no too, Bobby,” Dean pointed out, “Look where that got us.”

“You shut your mouth, boy,” Bobby told him, jabbing a finger in his direction, “I haven’t even gotten started with you yet.”

Dean’s mouth shut with an audible snap and he fixed his eyes on the floor then.

“Bobby,” John butted in, “The girl’s got a point. She’s gonna do it whether you want her to or not. She’s already proven that.”

“She’s my baby girl!” Bobby cried in exasperation, feeling the back of his eyes start to sting with tears as his frustration mounted.

“And those are my boys,” John said, pointing over in their direction, “Raven is somebody’s daughter.”

“That’s not the _point,_ John,” Bobby sighed, bringing one hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose and squeeze his eyes shut tight as he tried to fight back the tears before anyone noticed, “I made Karen a promise as she laid dying in my arms that I would never let our daughter become a hunter. I’ve already lost Karen. I can’t lose her too.”

“Bobby, she’s just as likely to be killed in a car accident or some other sort of freak accident as she is to get killed while she’s out on a hunt,” John stated.

“Oh, _bullshit,”_ Bobby cursed, “That’s horseshit, John, and you know it. Look at how many times you and your boys have come back from a hunt with stitches or a dislocated shoulder… or worse. Hell, Dean was laying in the hospital not two months ago.”

He gestured to Dean with one hand, and the eldest Winchester boy looked down at his boots.

“I hate to tell you, Bobby, but she’s gonna do it anyway,” Dean said when he finally met Bobby’s gaze once more.

“I agree,” John chimed in, “She’s already proven that.”

“What she needs is a hunting partner,” Sam stated, voicing his opinion.

“What is this? Open discussion night?” Bobby questioned, “The last I knew, _I_ was Shae’s father.”

“Just think about it, Bobby. Wouldn’t it be better to send her with an experienced hunter that knows the ropes? A hunter that can teach her a thing or two? We all had to start somewhere,” John hinted, “I think it’s a great idea.”

“Well,” Bobby huffed, “If you think it’s such a fine idea, then why don’t _you_ take her with _you, John?”_

“Now, Bobby,” John started, “That’s not what I meant.”

“Oh?” Bobby asked, cocking one brow at him, “And why’s that, John? You just said you thought it was a ‘ _great_ ’ idea.”

Well, this was certainly taking a _very_ interesting turn, but Shae quite liked it. In fact, she _really_ liked the idea of hunting with the infamous John Winchester. She couldn’t think of anyone better suited for the job of teaching her how to hunt. He was more experienced than any other hunter her father had ever known – well, the ones that were still alive at least. Even Rufus didn’t have as much experience hunting as John did. And, now that the seed had been planted, she was really curious to see how this all played out.

She let her green eyes flick from her father to his friend and back again.

But John was quick to shut the idea down, giving a firm “No” and an even firmer shake of his head.

“Then stay out of it,” Bobby told him.

“Wait a minute,” Sam piped up, pushing himself off of the wall to stand straight, “I think that’s a really good idea. I mean, you’re getting older and you could use someone to look after you.”

“You saying I’m rusty, boy?” John asked his youngest son.

“No,” Sam answered, shaking his head, “I just think it’s a good idea is all.”

“I agree,” Dean chimed in, “If you won’t let me and Sammy tag along, at least take Shae with you.”

“Why in the hell would I do that?” John inquired, “Shae’s not even _half_ as experienced as you two boys are, and I don’t know the _first_ thing about taking care of a girl.”

Shae jerked her head back at that, cocking one blonde brow at him.

“I’ll have you know I’m 23 years old,” she spouted off, crossing her arms over her chest and narrowing her green eyes at him, “I don’t need ‘taking care of’. I can do that myself, thank you very much.”

“You’re right, John,” Bobby said, his lips twitching as he fought back a smile, “She does need a hunting partner.”

“Yes, she does, but –,” John started to protest, only to be cut off when Bobby walked over to clap him on the shoulder and announce, “She’s all yours.”

Shae grinned triumphantly at that, practically skipping over to her father and wrapping her arms around his neck and she pulled him into a tight hug.

“Oh, _thank_ you, daddy!” she cried, pressing a kiss to his grizzled cheek.

“Ohhh, this is not happening…” John groaned, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose as he squeezed his eyes shut.

** Lyrics from the Song: **

_Trying Not to Love You_ by Nickelback


End file.
